Gettysburg College

College Sustainability Report Card 2009

President Will signed the Presidents Climate Commitment. A sustainability committee, composed of students, faculty, and administrators, works to address environmental matters on campus. A sustainability website was launched in July 2008.

Gettysburg has made advances toward energy efficiency with lighting upgrades and Energy Star-rated appliances. The college replaced 20-year-old, air-cooled chillers at the central plant with energy-efficient centrifugal chillers, reducing energy consumption significantly. In 2008, the college entered a contract to purchase 20 percent of its energy from biomass.

Much of the college's produce comes from local farmers as well as from the student-run garden. Dining services also purchases from a local dairy. The campus garden uses compost from the dining hall, and the college recycles glass, cardboard, plastic, and aluminum. Recycling and composting help to divert 24 percent of waste from the landfill.

Gettysburg plans to develop design standards for future construction and renovation projects that incorporate green practices with respect to building site selection, water and energy efficiency, materials, and indoor air quality. The new Center for Athletics, Recreation and Fitness is registered for LEED certification. A structure on the center's roof stores up to 15,000 gallons of water runoff and channels it into the rain gardens for cleansing on site. A large, man-made lake on campus serves as a source of water to replenish the aquifer.

Students manage the Painted Turtle Farm and Campus Kitchens food recycling project. The college employs three students part-time to work on sustainability-related programs. Student groups include Gettysburg Environmental Concerns Organization and Gettysburg Research and Action by Students for Sustainability. All first-year students are introduced to sustainability initiatives upon arrival in the residence halls.

Gettysburg has restricted first-year students from bringing cars to campus and has instituted a town shuttle for the 2008–2009 year to provide access to local shopping areas. Employees who carpool receive preferred parking spaces. A bike program loans bikes to any college community member. The campus is pedestrian friendly and cars are not permitted to drive within it.

The college makes a list of endowment holdings available to the public by request, as per open records laws. The college does not make its shareholder voting record public.

The college aims to optimize investment return and is currently invested in both renewable energy funds and community development loan funds.

The college asks that its investment managers handle the details of proxy voting.